CHAPTER TEN
BEFORE AND AFTER GURU NANAK
THERE is always food for the hungry
and water for the thirsty. A babe that was born five hundred years ago
was provided by Dame Nature with milk from the mother's breast; and so
was the case with one who came into the world a thousand years back. Those
who are born in the present age are also being provided with similar means
of sustenance.
The law of supply and demand is an
immutable one in Nature. In exactly the same way this law works inexorably
in spiritual matters also.
For the aspirants before the time
of Guru Nanak or in this age or hereafter, Nature cannot but provide the
means of satisfying their aspirations.
To delimit a particular period of
one or two centuries as the period of Gurus and to say that there were
no Master Souls before or after that particular time, is against the fundamental
law of supply and demand, and hence incorrect.
The teachings of the Masters are for
all times and not for any particular period. They utter eternal truths
which hold good for eternity, and are the common heritage of mankind in
general. Their seed-dictum for instance is that God is One and is the Gift
of a Godman. It is an axiomatic truth, self-evident, and hardly needs any
comment.
In Anurag Sagar, Kabir Sahib
tells us that he came into the world in all the four yugas or cycles of
time.
Bhagat Bani was in existence
long before Gurbani. From Guru Granth Sahib and the verses of Bhai
Gurdas, we learn that from age to age people benefited from Shabd or Bani.
Krishna and Balbhadra both bowed before a Guru.
Namdev the calico printer and Kabir the weaver learned the esoteric
science from a Guru.
Bani has been in existence in all the four cycles of time and carries the
message of Truth.
Shabd is true, and Bani is true. Godmen have from age to age
explained this.
In the biography of Guru Nanak by Bhai Bala, Guru Nanak is said to have stated that in this Kali Yuga (Iron Age) many a Saint would come to lead people Godward.
Seventy Bhagats and fourteen Saints would come during this period.
The Saints would carry shiploads of people Homeward. Those who would
not believe would flounder, and those who are slaves of their lower
selves would not be accepted.
From the above it is clear that both Guru and Gurbani have always existed side by side. It is the Guru who has ever been the means of helping the seekers after Truth.
O God! Thy Saints have at all times been in the
world.
O God! throughout the ages the line of Gurus has been in existence.
The succession of Satgurus continues throughout and they have ever
preached the lesson of Naam.